I was and still am an XBOT. But I do love my PS3 too. After reading all the doom and gloom posts about how the PSN+ is going to fail, I thought I would highlight some reasons why I think it will succeed. So here are some points to consider:
1. The PSN+ is new! This is virtually day one for the fledging new service. Remember how horrible XBOX Live was the first day is was available? And you still had to pay $50/year for far far less content and services than you get from just the free PSN now, much less the PSN+.
2. Predictions state that 1 million subscribers will sign up the first month alone. That is a $50 million dollar cash influx to Sony on the start of the PSN+. And that number will likely double this time next year when subscriptions run out and word of mouth increases the subscription base. Granted not all of that money will go to the PSN infrastructure, but it is a safe bet that a good portion will. That will allow Sony to spend more time and resources on making the PSN/PSN+ better. Remember, XBOX Live took years to get to where it is today, it did not happen overnight. And their success was fueled by the $50/year subscription fees each year. Sony should now enjoy the same improvement curve for the same reasons.
3. For $50, you will no doubt get at least $50 worth of content back over the course of the year. 15 months, if you signed up early. Sony obviously does not have the services (i.e. voice messages, cross game chat, party system, reporting system, reputation system, etc.) yet. But they more than make up for that with "content". Games, themes, Qore, etc.
4. Services. Voice messaging, cross game chat and all that will most likely come to PSN+ (not free PSN). I would expect to see some if not all of these in the next 15 months. Imagine the value when you get all the XBOX Live services plus all the nifty extra "content" that you get now. I don't mind waiting for that.
5. The yellow PSN+ symbol by your PSN ID. Petty? Yes. Cool? Oh, yes. Sure, it's "shiny beads and shallow flattery" on Sony's part (anyone remember that quote from M*A*S*H?). However, little things like that can have a huge impact on people. Who wants to be on the only person on their friends list without it?
6. The install base. Sony now has the install base that makes the publishers/developers take notice. Hence, Valve and EA focusing on the PS3 in ways they did not previously. And they are not the only ones. With the much larger install base, that is growing nicely every month, there are sufficient numbers now to fuel and sustain the PSN+.
Anyway, those are my 2 cents from an old XBOT who sees his PS3 as being his more played console going forward.
And keep in mind that we, the consumers, WIN when both Microsoft and Sony are neck and neck. Because they are in full swing competition and innovation mode.
Gamesbeat caught up with Blackley to extract some wisdom about Microsoft’s journey in games, what he thinks Sharma should do, and where gaming can go next. Part of his message is hopeful, but Blackley sees a lot of peril on the road that Microsoft is following. And it makes him worry about the future of gaming.
Sarah Bond's "Xbox everywhere" strategy and controversial "This is an Xbox" campaign have been blamed for alienating Xbox employees and failing to deliver results, with multiple sources telling they're relieved by her departure.
This adds more clarity to the situation. She was in charge of marketing so I 100% do. Believe this was her. The fact that she pissed off a lot of ppl with this campaign was interesting. The kicker she kicked you out if you questioned her moves. Sounds like a Satya move to me.
Ok when it comes to the marketing of the Xbox maybe not get rid of where Xbox is at but advertise the console, bundle 1 month of GP and have "xbox everywhere" as a side thing or just a minor thing. It's too late for Series consoles but do this with their next console. If GP is 30$ this needs to justified ASAP put all of ABK. Remake remaster popular games and put those out on the service. Have a handful of AAA games come day one even. Perma exclusivety is dead however they can be timed. The would at least give ppl a somewhat of a reason to invest. Satya will not allow permanent exclusives again.
Do I still think Xbox is dead? Depends, how much will Satya not get involved and let Asha and Matt figure something out. The more I think about it, I think Satya only really gets involved if the financials aren't lookin so hot. I think Xbox going multiplat was a result of wanting make their money back from ABK and of course raise their unreasonable and near unrealistic margins.
Anyway, things did get interesting and adds nuance just how Xbox is ran.
I’ve read that article they put out on this and it just sounds like a massive hit piece on her. They’ve basically thrown her under the bus.
I highly doubt all of this was just her idea, especially the multiplatform stuff.
Ever since the Zenimax and Activision deal all eyes have been on the Xbox department. There’s no way she’d have acted alone with decisions as big as these, Phil Spencer and Satya Nadella would have been all over this aswell, especially with them both being higher than her.
When they brought her in I thought to myself she’d be used as a scape goat and here we are.
It’s the exact same thing they did when Don Mattrick left “oh it wasn’t our idea, it was all Don, our new leader Phil Spencer is a gamer and will turn things around”.
Exactly, they always have to pin it on someone. Everything was Don Mattrick's fault before. Now everything is Sarah Bond's fault.
People act like these companies don't have focus groups, board meetings, focus testing, etc for these ideas before they hit.
They'd rather blame her rather than the product they asked her to market. How else was she going to market playing your xbox games on any device? Has anyone stopped to think that the marketing was bad because the product itself was bad?
But I don't feel sorry for her, she knew the kind of people she was working with
Would it still be a hit piece if it was actually true? If she really was behind the whole everything is an xbox... then I say they took the chance and it didnt pay off. Most companies let people go over bad decisions like that.
That's just it darth72, it more than likely isn't the truth because we know she didn't have control over everything at Xbox. That would be Phil Spencer, who has Don Mattrick's old position.
And to be fair, even he can't be blamed for everything since it's highly unlikely all this goes on without Nadella's blessing at some point
While I am sure she played a key role in “everything is an Xbox” it is still a hit piece. We can’t forget that Phil was in charge and at the very least gave it his blessing.
this was definitely Not her own idea.
phil and others had their grubby hands all over it.
i never particularly liked her cause she so lived in delulu land, but i guess she did what she could, given in the bad state xbox was and still is
Gamers are going to be reminiscing, over the "this is an Xbox" glory days once we get Xbox Copilot powered by AI and "the power of the AI" crap they'll be trying to shove down our throats.
So going multiplat was her idea or the marketing was the issue? If it's the latter, who cares if it was her idea or not. The decision to go multiplat is the core issue not the marketing. The marketing I guess kept it from being a "mystery" on whether or not a game was exclusive or not.
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard returns the series to its horror roots, and on the Nintendo Switch 2, you can take those frights everywhere.
not bad.
They're going to try and entice as many people over to their new service as possible before they drop the bombshell that they'll be charging for online play. They will wait until they release some high profile game, introduce some new features, and tell everyone that they'll need P+ for these new games with these new features. All the games before this announcement will remain free though. Mark my words. The free game stuff doesn't sit to well with me. Why should I buy any games if they could eventually become free through my account? And on the flip side, what if I buy a game and then the next month it becomes free? I also lose all my "free" games if I decide to stop paying for the service. They're best bet was to offer me something that was actually cheaper than xbox live, but since they're the same price, I'm going to compare them feature for feature, and PS+ isn't going to fare well anytime soon, especially if Sony is throwing a bunch of free games at me I don't even want.
@Mwaan
You may well be right. But as long as they offer those things that I mentioned, is that such a bad thing? Sony is throwing free (or rented, if you will) content at the PSN+ right now, because that is all they had to offer. But I truly believe that the other "services" will be coming in the next 12 months:
- cross game chat
- voice messages
- party system
- reputation system
- reporting system
- better parental controls
PSN+ is a great deal no matter how you look at it. You get to rent 12 full games a year for $50, you get discounts on DLC, you get free DLC, you get access to demos and betas. Any features they add would just be extra gravy. Any gamer who uses PSN a decent amount should consider PSN+.
Not to be sarcastic but will like to have your xbox tag and psn ID to make sure u have both system and yes I'm agree with u and the same thing I told to one of my friend, I wasn't expecting too much but at least the money that I put in my PSN+ it will be worth in time. Cheers!!!